Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- There are just a couple of short weeks remaining until national signing day, and the Florida Gators have met a majority of their recruiting needs. With graduation, transfers and players leaving for the NFL draft, there are a few areas Florida head coach Will Muschamp would still like to shore up.

Key holes to fill

The Gators lost key personnel along the offensive line, wide receiver, linebacker, running back and secondary and are hoping to replenish their talent with junior college transfers and incoming freshmen.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida’s list of early enrollees has decreased by one.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Florida Gators could have as many eight players enroll early and be eligible for for spring football. Three players -- Tyler Moore (Clearwater, Fla./Countryside), Darious Cummings (Titusville, Fla./East Mississippi Community College) and Trenton Brown (Albany, Ga./Georgia Military College) -- have already signed their letters of intent with Florida.

After losing offensive linemen James Wilson and Xavier Nixon to graduation, Florida will get immediate help from Brown and Moore. Brown is expected to compete with D.J. Humphries for playing time at left tackle, while Moore is likely to start off competing with right tackle Chaz Green for playing time.

Defensive tackle Omar Hunter graduates, and Florida could potentially lose Sharrif Floyd and Dominique Easley to the NFL draft in April. Cummings will likely work his way in to Florida's defensive tackle rotation early on next season. He'll battle with Leon Orr, Damien Jacobs, Quinteze Williams and Florida verbal commit Caleb Brantley for playing time next season.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The day that Darious Cummings had hoped for is finally here – it just came nearly three years later than he originally planned.

The 6-foot-3, 292-pound defensive tackle -- along with fellow junior college players Trenton Brown and Tyler Moore -- is expected to sign a national letter of intent to play at Florida today. His signature will reunite him with longtime friend Damien Jacobs and make their goal of one day playing at the same college a reality.

"Me and him were supposed to play at Florida State," Cummings said. "Before we signed [out of high school] we said we were going to go to the same school and we’re going to play together in college. People ask me, 'Is this fate [that he’s signing with Florida]?'

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Gators landed two offensive linemen -- Trenton Brown (Albany, Ga./Georgia Military College) and Rod Johnson (Delray Beach, Fla./Delray Beach) -- along with linebacker Matt Rolin (Ashburn, Va./Briar Woods) on Sunday, leaving Florida with just a few remaining spots left in their 2013 recruiting class. With less than two months until national signing day, here is a look at five offensive targets that Florida continues to focus on.

WR Laquon Treadwell (Crete, Ill./Crete-Monee) -- Florida currently has four wide receiver commits from Ahmad Fulwood (Jacksonville, Fla./Bishop Kenny), Alvin Bailey (Seffner, Fla./Armwood), Marqui Hawkins (Columbus, Ga./Carver) and Chris Thompson (Gainesville, Fla./Gainesville). All four are solid players, but Treadwell is a difference maker. Florida has been lacking a true No. 1 receiver and Treadwell has the capability to be that type of player. He said recently he will take an official visit to Florida.

RB Alex Collins (Plantation, Fla./South Plantation) -- Collins, a former Miami commitment, will officially visit Florida this weekend. The Gators have two four-star running back commitments in Kelvin Taylor (Belle Glades, Fla./Glades Day) and Adam Lane (Winter Haven, Fla./Winter Haven), but Collins is too talented not to recruit. The ESPN 150 back is also considering Florida State.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Florida Gators had a very memorable recruiting weekend. Florida hosted several visitors for their annual football awards banquet. The visitor list was comprised of mostly committed players and several 2014 recruits. But wasn't the visitors that stole the headlines on Sunday.

The biggest news of the weekend came from three prospects that weren't even on campus. Massive 6-foot-8, 340-pound offensive tackle Trenton Brown (Albany, Ga./Georgia Military College), former South Carolina linebacker commit Matt Rolin (Ashburn, Va./Briar Woods) and four-star offensive tackle Rod Johnson (Delray Beach, Fla./American Heritage) gave their pledges to Florida on Sunday.

Brown committed to Florida over Oklahoma and Florida State, Rolin switched his pledge from South Carolina to the Gators and Johnson recommitted to Florida after an in-home visit from Florida offensive line coach Tim Davis.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida has landed it's third commitment of the day, as four-star offensive lineman Rod Johnson (Delray Beach, Fla./American Heritage) recommitted to Florida on Sunday evening. The four-star tackle prospect chose Florida over West Virginia and Florida State.

The 6-foot-6, 315-pound tackle originally committed to Florida early in the recruiting process before opening things back up. After taking a few official visits, Johnson decided to make his pledge to Florida again.

"When I talked to coach [Tim] Davis on my in-home visit," Johson said, "I really had a good time talking with him, just talking to me about the program and getting early playing time. He talked to me about graduating and getting my degree. He kind of left that on my shoulders and left it on my parents' shoulders as well.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- With the addition of Trenton Brown (Albany, Ga./Georgia Military College) the Gators have now helped add depth and size to an offensive line unit that was once thought to be a weakness coming into next season.

Add Brown to a unit that now includes Jon Halapio, D.J. Humphries, Jon Harrison, Chaz Green, Maryland transfer Max Garcia, former Nebraska transfer Tyler Moore and other commitments Cam Dillard (Canton, Mich./Canton) and Octavius Jackson (Moultrie, Ga./Colquitt Co.) and the Gators have what could potentially be one of the top offensive line units in the SEC next season.

At 6-foot-8, 340-pounds, Brown has unique size that is reminiscent of former Florida offensive tackle and current Pittsburgh Steeler Max Starks. Brown has the body type that Florida head coach Will Muschamp is looking for in his linemen.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Massive offensive lineman Trenton Brown (Albany, Ga./Georgia Military College) verbally committed to play for Florida early Sunday morning. Brown, a former Georgia commit, chose Florida over Oklahoma and Florida State.

The 6-foot-8, 340-pound tackle prospect announced his decision via his twitter handle @512_ItsNMe: "Gator Chompin' #GatorNation join me Oh and add me to that #1 recruiting class." Brown later confirmed to RecruitingNation writer Kipp Adams via text message that he had committed.

Brown originally set a decision date for Dec. 19, but decided to go ahead and make his pledge public now and since he is at a prep school, he will be able to sign with Florida on the 19th and enroll at UF in January.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It’s time to dip into the GatorNation recruiting mailbag and answer your questions. Because of the amount of questions we’ve received, we won’t be able to get to all of them today -- but we encourage you to post your questions on our Insider fan forum, The Chompions Club.

xtremecheezhead: How will the addition of Joker Phillips impact WR recruiting?

A: There is no question in my mind this will have a very big impact in recruiting for Florida. It might not be this year because the Gators already have four wide receiver commits and might only take one more receiver. Phillips has helped develop several top receivers including Randall Cobb of the Green Bay Packers, and he should able to sell that to recruits. As I said in my update on Monday, the Gators are still in the picture for several receivers, and the Phillips addition will only help Florida's cause.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It’s time to dip into the GatorNation recruiting mailbag and answer your questions. Because of the amount of questions we’ve received, we won’t be able to get to all of them today -- but we encourage you to post your questions on our Insider fan forum, The Chompions Club.

dabramowitz5: What are the needs moving forward, and are we in for any surprises?

A: Florida has met many needs in this recruiting cycle, but with roughly five or so spots remaining there are a few areas they'd still like to address. The Gators have four wide receivers but would probably like to add one more. UF needs a tight end, but with no obvious options available, they may have to wait until next year. The Gators do have three offensive line commits including former Nebraska OT Tyler Moore, but would like to at least add one more if not two. Trenton Brown is the most likely candidate with Laremy Tunsil still hanging around as well. Defensively, Florida would like to add safety Marcell Harris, who will announce his decision on Thursday. They'd also like to add another linebacker. With former Auburn LB commit Trey Johnson decommitting on Tuesday, Florida could certainly turn up the heat on him.

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Despite not having many visitors for its 23-0 victory over Jacksonville State on Saturday, the Florida Gators will still consider this a successful recruiting weekend.

The Gators filled what potentially could be a big hole on the defensive line with the verbal commitment of Darious Cummings (Titusville, Fla./East Mississippi Community Colege) on Sunday. The 6-foot-3, 292-pound lineman, who originally signed with Florida State out of high school, switched his pledge from Ole Miss to Florida after taking an official visit to Florida this weekend.

Cummings said he has matured since his time at FSU.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- With big home SEC showdowns against LSU and South Carolina this season, the Gators have had a few opportunities to impress recruits. This week's game against Jacksonville State won't have high stakes, but the Gators are expected to bring in some key prospects to the Swamp.

Headlining the group will be two official visitors, ESPN 150 defensive end Ebenezer Ogundeko (Brooklyn, N.Y./Jefferson) and junior college prospect Darious Cummings (Scooba, Miss./EMCC). Ogundeko, an Under Armour All-American, says he is looking forward to seeing how he fits in with Florida.

"I'm really just looking forward to how comfortable I am down there," Ogundeko said, "and how I fit in with Florida's defense."

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